Intel Joins OLPC Project

Chip maker Intel and non-profit organization One Laptop per Child (OLPC) today announced they have agreed to work together “to bring the benefits of technology to the developing world through synergy of their respective programs”.

Under the agreement, Intel and OLPC will explore collaborations involving technology and educational content. In addition, Intel will join the board of OLPC.

OLPC is aimed to bring learning opportunities to the most remote and poorest children of the world by providing them with connected, low-cost and rugged laptops accordingly. The OLPC’s “XO” notebook, also known as a “$100 laptop”, is powered by AMD’s Geode processor and uses Linux operating system.

On the other side, Intel until recently had been promoting its own “ClassMate” low-cost laptop.

After the announcement of the Intel - OLPC collaboration, questions have been raised about the effect of this agreement on AMD’s participation in the same project.

“With initial pricing for first generation OLPC notebooks based on AMD’s Geode processors set to cost more than the original target of US$100, OLPC may look to switch to Intel processors if it could help reduce costs,” DigiTimes‘ sources say.

Additionally, Intel’s strong brand could attract some countries, which still evaluate whether to invest in OLPC, to release orders, the report says.

[…] Intel joined the OLPC in July last year. The company was expected to unveil a new processor for the One Laptop Per Child’s XO notebook at the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai next April. […]